Ho'oku'i
by mustachey5
Summary: Two request fics stuck together! Chapter one - Steve and Cath moving in... or not... ( set during season 3 follows 'Dolls' episode) Chapter Two- Steve asks for permission from Catherines Father. Give it a read- you know you want to!


Ho'oku'i Part 1 ( to join two things together.)

Steve was woken by the shift of weight on the bed, sleepily blinking an eye open he rolled over to see Catherine disentangling herself from the soft covers.

"Cath?" He mumbled, stiffling a yawn.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she stood up from the bed and began rooting round for her clothes.

"I have a meeting at Pearl, I need to go home and get ready, go back to sleep" she said smiling softly as his face which was scrunched up in sleepy confusion.

"You don't have to go just yet, we have time" He said and smirked when he successfully managed to grab hold of her arm and pull her back on to the bed.

"Steve.." She tried but he ignored her, pushing her onto her back and smiling in triumph as pressed his lips to hers. She half mumbled half moaned against his lips and gently tried to push him up.

"No... Steve...I" She tried again between kisses but it only seemed to spur Steve on.

"I really have to go, I can't be late. " She said finally succeeding in pushing his heavy body off of her, but immediately missing the comfort of his warmth. He rolled on to his stomach and watched her lazily, arm hanging off the bed as she quickly changed into her clothes from last night.

"It would be easier if your stuff was here" he announced suddenly

"Easier how?" She asked, rummaging round desperately trying to find her other sock which had apparently vanished into thin air.

"We would have more time together... you wouldn't have to leave early for work..."

"More time together? Does that mean you may finally fulfil your promise of dinner?" She teased

"Let's not be completely unrealistic here..." he drawled mimicking her tone.

"What would be the point of bringing my uniform here anyway? I still have to go home for all my other stuff so it doesn't really save all that much time, I have goldfish to feed and care for..."

"How much care do goldfish need? And I wasn't just meaning your uniform" he said as he rolled over and pushed himself up with his back against the headboard. Catherine stopped her search for the sock that she now deemed to be M.I.A and turned to face him.

"What were you meaning?" She asked slowly , an odd look passing over her features for just a second.

"I was kind of meaning everything , you know? Like you'd move in..." he said trailing off at the end when she seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea. She stared at him for a second not saying a word, the strange look returning to her face, she opened her mouth as if to say something but shut it again quickly.

"I mean you spend basically all your time here..." he tried again

"I really should go to my meeting" She said and turned quickly grabbing her phone from the dresser.

"Cath, wait..." Steve said climbing out of bed and grabbing her elbow before she could flee the room. He shot her a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing.."

"You're freaking out."

"I'm late" She countered, slipping her arm out of his grip and shooting him a tight smile.

"I'll see you round" She said and shot out the room

"Cath?" He tried but she was gone before he finished calling her name. He turned round and kicked out at a shoe that was lying in the middle of the floor and sighed. That had gone well.

.

.

"You've gotta be kidding me" she said staring at him. No sooner than her meeting had finished, she had recieved a call from her CO telling her she was needed at five-0 HQ. And despite her best protests that's were she found herself, desperately trying to ignore the awkwardness between her and Steve that hung over from that morning's conversation. If the ground could open up right now and swallow her up that would be just fantastic.

"I wouldn't ask you if there was another way and besides I already cleared it with your C.O, so you're on..." Steve continued. Never before had Cath been so glad the rest of the team were there preventing the inevitable topic of this morning coming up but she equally wasn't chuffed at the idea of going undercover... in a roller derby no less.

"Look I would love to help you but unfortunately I can't skate.." she tried , attempting to look apologetic though she suspected she was failing.

"Yes, but you ice-skate" Steve said triumphantly, smiling at her.

"You competed professionally, your father showed me the pictures of you and your little outfits and unitards stuff you used to wear" he said smirking at her. She was going to be having serious conversations with her father about what and what was not appropriate to show her boyfriend. Wait boyfriend? Since when had she labelled him a boyfriend... then again since when did she have internal discussions. She was going mad, it was the only explanation. And now there was an awkward silence in the room when she should have been talking but was far too busy holding a crisis meeting in her head... She cleared her throat and looked back at Steve who was doing his typical puppy dog eyes that he used to get whatever he wanted, unfortunately they worked exceptionally well on her. Though he probably knew that already.

"Fine." She said eventually and hoped that maybe in the chaos of the case the morning's conversation may be forgotten. Thankfully Steve appeared to have picked up on the vibe and the topic went unmentioned.

.

.

"Hey" She said as she entered the house quietly, she was bone tired from training that day but was glad of the distraction and Steve was right, it wasn't too dissimilar from ice skating.

"Catherine, what are you doing here?" Steve asked as he turned to face her, welcoming her with a smile

"Danny told me about your mom..." She explained gently

"You're supposed to be undercover."

"No, it's okay, we're done for the day. All the girls left, it would've looked wierd if I'd stayed." She explained and he relaxed slightly

"What happened?" She asked nodding towards the large whole in the wall and the safe that hung open.

"Well, according to Doris she interrupted a burglary. " He said

"This doesn't look like a normal burglary" She said looking round the room, slightly confused.

"No, that's because it wasn't a normal burgalry. This was a surgical strike, whoever did this knew exactly what they were looking for and they knew Doris well enough to know where she would hide something. " He said, anger seeping into his voice.

"She's lying to me again, I don't know what to do Catherine.." Pain evident in his expression, he was torn. The sinking feeling in Catherine growing as she remembered the events from a few months ago... Doris wasn't the only one lying. Steve was distraught his mother had lied again and she didn't want to think about how much his discovery of her lying would hurt him. But equally, she couldn't keep it up.

"Steve" she said after a moment, unable to meet his eye.

"Yeah"

"I need to tell you something.."

"What?" He asked. She took a breath and forced herself to look him in the eye

"Have you ever heard of Mangosta?"

"Mangosta? No, why? " he asked his face scrunched up in confusion, reminding her off his similar expression from earlier that day. Only this one wasn't quite as adorable.

"He's an operative from Doris' past and covert ops..."

"Did you get this from Navy Intel? " He asked and she shook her head, her palms suddenly sweaty.

"No" She forced out , barely a whisper.

"Then how do you know this?" He asked, a dangerous edge to his voice, almost a challenge and for the first time ever she was almost afraid of him.

"There was an incident that happened a while ago and Mangosta came after Doris, she managed to turn the tables on him but I think this may be connected." She explained slowly, trying to mask the wobble of emotion in her voice as it finally sunk in quite what she had hidden from him.

"why would you not tell me that?" He asked the confusion morphing more towards anger and betrayal.

"I wanted to and I should have..."

"Yeah you should have" he interrupted.

"I made a promise and Doris didn't want you to worry ..."

"You should go, okay." Catherine sighed internally at the dismissive tone on his voice... she had screwed up royally.

"Steve. .." she tried to beg, desperate to relieve the suffering she could see on his face, suffering she had caused.

"Catherine." She left silently, wondering if they could repair the damage she had just inflicted.

.

.

Steve and Danny arrived at the roller derby and immediately started searching for any sign of Catherine. Steve's heart rate rising when he couldn't spot her. She hadn't answered her phone and after finding out about the coach drugging the girls the boys had headed straight over to check up on her.

"I can't see Catherine" Steve shouted to Danny over the loud music, his hand hovering over his holstered weapon as he continued to look round the crowded room

"I can't see the coach either" Danny shouted back and Steve's heart sank.. what if he was too late? He was dragged out of his thoughts by a loud gunshot. He and Danny looked at each other before sprinting in the direction the noise came from.

"Catherine!" He shouted as they kicked open the office door, his panic rising when he found the room empty.

"In here!" She called back and a wave of relief washed over the two partners as they followed her voice to find the coach on the floor and Catherine crouched by her teammate. Danny took care of the coach while Steve dropped down opposite Catherine and helped her untie her teammate.

"You okay?" He asked when he finally managed to get his emotions back in their little compartments. She nodded awkwardly, almost unable to meet his eye, the apology written all over her face as she whispered the much needed word.

"Yeah"

.

.

Catherine had left nearly immediately , not saying another word, only throwing him the occasional glance. It was awkward between them , neither entirely sure where they stood anymore, what they were. They hadn't talked since, only exchanging a formal nod at the funeral of the girl. Steve choosing to stand by Danny instead of her. And now here he stood watching her as she stared out at the ocean, looking almost vulnerable, something he had never considered her to be.

"Catherine and I had a good thing and now what, huh?" He had nearly shouted at his mother.

"Steve that girl loves you, she wasn't trying to hurt you." Her statement had flawed him. She loved him? Then why did she freak out when he suggested moving in. She made sure they never made it to dinner. For all Danny's claims that he was a commitmentphobe it was Catherine that was the one actively shying away from his attmepts of commitment. If she loved him why wouldn't she show him?

He approached her quietly and she turned to face him, her lip wobbling in her tell tale sign that she was close to tears.

"I am so sorry" She whispered, biting her soft lip

"I should have told you" her voice wavering slightly under the weight of the unshed tears. But he kissed her before she had a chance to say anything else. He has missed her, a day they hadn't talked for and he missed her already. He had been scared out of his mind when he couldn't find her and then heard the gunshot and he had wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, to protect her and to make sure for himself that she was indeed okay. So he kissed her now with all the emotion that he had pent up from the last few days, crushing her to his chest and enhaling the warm , soft scent of her as he buried his face in her silky hair. Eventually she pulled back, looking up at him, the uncertainty still in her eyes.

"I should head home, get changed..." she said gesturing down at the dress she was still wearing. She turned to walk away, disappointed that he had said nothing when his voice startled her.

"Why did you freak out?" She turned back to face him and frowned.

"When?"

"The other morning, I asked you to move in and you completely panicked and ran away"

" I didn't " She attempted to deflect.

"Did too, I've never seen you move that quickly... except from when you spotted that spider in your shower"

"I was surprised by the spider, okay, that was all. I'm not scared of them. " she said smiling at the memory

"Yeah, sure..." he smirked

"You haven't answered my question though" he continued

"You changed the topic not me."

"Well now I'm changing it back. Why don't you want to move in?" He pushed and she glanced back out to the ocean, watching the waves break, one after another. It was strangely calming to both of them

"I don't want to be like my parents" she said after a pause

"Umm... okay..." Steve said, not entirely sure ehat she meant.

" I'm still on active duty I'm stationed in Pearl but I may leave at any point, you're in the reserves and the same applies for you... that's what tore my parents apart. My mom couldn't cope with the fact my dad kept leaving for one Navy thing or another... I don't want that to happen to us."

"Catherine, we've been together what 6 years now? Being miles apart has never been a problem before, why would it be a problem now? "

"I don't even know if we're on the same page.." She said eventually with a sigh

"What do you mean?"

"I love you, okay? I really want more but I think you still class us as friends with benefits. " She admitted finally.

"Why if I thought we were just that, would I ask you to move in?"

"I don't know, I just don't want to screw this up..."

"That's not going to happen, think of everything we've been through togethet Cath. I'm in for the long haul okay? So if any body's going to end this it's you not me. I'm not leaving you." He said sincerely, reaching gently to brush her hair from her face.

"Promise?"

"I promise" he smiled and kissed her gently.

"So you going to accept my offer?" He asked smiling as he slipped his arms round her small waist.

"It depends. .." She smiled up at him, the weight of worry from the past few days lifted from her shoulders, so he may not have said the big 'I love you' but he got about as close as Steve McGarrett would ever get to the dreaded phrase. He loved her and all was finally right with the world. Love conquers all , right?

"And what would that be?" He asked leaning his forehead against hers

"I can bring Jaws with me..."

"That stupid goldfish?"

"He reminds me of you"

"You just called me a fish, fantastic..."

"He's very clever and rather pretty and needs lots of love and attention " she giggled at him

"Pretty? Clever? The stupid thing keeps hitting it's head on the glass bowl. .."

"You both have you're moments" she laughed at his scowl.

"If I say no?"

"Then I can't move in and we may have to put off the love and attention you were looking for." She said , wriggling her hips to indicate quite what she meant.

"Well we can't have that, now can we Lieutenant? " he smirked, dropping a kiss to her lips and easily lifting her into his arms to carry her back to the car.

"No we can't." She agreed smiling at his goofy grin as she settled in his arms.

"Take me home Commander ."


End file.
